Strategy Meeting
by YukiSkye
Summary: Three hundred years later and things aren't quite the same anymore as the Heroes discuss current events, the Black Mage, and certain... changes. Sequel to War Council.


Evan was nervous.

No, even that wasn't the right word to describe it. He was _way _beyond nervous. His nerves were jittery enough to make him want to jump out the nearest window and run for his life. But as he was certain Phantom would probably catch him anyway and jumping out of a moving airship wasn't exactly the brightest of ideas even with Mir, running away was simply not an option so he continued to plod his way closer and closer towards the source of his doom and gloom: the Lumiere's conference room.

The reason he was headed there in the first place? Phantom had decided to assemble the three other Heroes for a meeting and while he had seen two of them at the Maple Alliance in Ereve, he hadn't actually talked to either of them, only looking at them from afar, too intimidated by their status to so much as approach them and the third and final member was still a complete mystery. It was really no wonder he was so nervous! He was meeting the legendary Heroes who had defeated the _Black Mage_ centuries ago on a more personal level than in a crowded gazebo full of a lot of other people.

How are they going to look at him? Will they be disappointed? Will they be upset like Phantom had been when he discovered he was Freud's successor? Maybe even angry?

The questions and what-ifs made his head spin and it did nothing to assuage the tension in his body.

He half-wished Phantom was there with him but he had something else to take care of at the moment, leaving him to head towards the room by himself.

So now here he was, standing in front of the large, ornate double doors leading into the conference room and trying to muster enough courage to actually crack it open. And it was in front of those very doors that Luminous came upon a jittery young boy standing paralyzed on the spot.

Ah, so this was the new youth he had heard about who had succeeded Afrien and Freud.

He looked… startlingly similar to his predecessor except this boy had an air of innocence about him that Freud did not. He seemed to be around Lania's age and an ache of sorrow and pity reverberated through his chest that this child, one who shone for the brightest of futures, was to instead be dragged into the dregs of a poisonous nightmare that denied all justice and that denied all virtue.

He reached to clasp a reassuring hand on Evan's shoulder but his hand was abruptly stopped by the hard smack of a bejeweled cane against the back of his reaching limb.

He turned to the sight of Phantom frowning at him, expression unreadable, and Luminous slowly retracted his hand again, feeling as though he had been slapped hard in the face.

"Come now Evan, move on in. We haven't all day," Phantom said cheerily, subtly putting himself between them as he ushered Evan into the room and ignoring his protests at being pushed.

Luminous's grip around his Shining Rod tightened before loosening again in defeat.

Phantom had every right to be suspicious of him. He may have gained control for the most part over his powers but even so, deep inside, he was still very much feared himself, feared losing himself again in the maddening throes of the Black Mage's curse and feared the mania lurking just beneath his surface, threatening to consume him whole. With each time he activated Eclipse, and he suspected no matter how many times he will activate it in the future, he will always remain deeply scared he would never again return from that dark abyss. If he couldn't even assuage his own terror, how was he to convince anyone else that there was nothing to fear?

Without another word, Luminous silently followed behind and took his seat next to Aran, who blinked curiously at him before continuing to admire the beautiful, exquisite designs and embellishments of the large room glittering dazzlingly washed as it was in the radiant colors of the coming dawn.

He could feel Mercedes's piercing stare on him but he kept his head slightly bowed towards the polished mahogany table and ignored it.

From the left of the room, Phantom, with Evan standing nervously in front of him, announced, "So, allow me to introduce everyone. This is Evan, successor to Freud. His dragon, Mir, unfortunately cannot fit inside the ship so he is currently outside on the upper deck. Evan, you may already know some of these people but allow me to reintroduce them to you more formally. The one at the head of the table is Queen Mercedes, ruler of the elves."

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Mercedes said with perfect poise.

"Nice to meet you too ma'am," Evan said in return as politely as possible, giving her a small tentative smile and bowing slightly in an awkward fashion, nervous and unsure of what to do in front of such a power, intimidating even in her beauty. He could just feel the waves of authority emanating from her and without the buffer of a good middle-sized crowd such as the one back at the Maple Alliance, he felt it press against him all the more keenly and it was enough to make him quell inside to stand before such a picture of perfection.

"The one across from us sitting to the left is Aran, polearm expert and master of ice. Unfortunately, she has become amnesiac so she doesn't remember her past."

"Hey," Aran greeted cheerily, waving.

"Hi," Evan said with a broader smile on his face, immediately feeling more at ease with the more open-looking woman.

"And finally, next to her is Luminous, the Light Sage of Aurora."

"Um, H-hello sir."

Luminous lifted his head and gave a slight nod towards Evan, who was immediately struck by the piercing mismatched eyes, before continuing his downward stare. It was only a brief moment that their eyes had met but it was still enough time to make him feel as though he could sink into that crimson iris forever if given the chance until he had lost all sense of self if it were not for the sharp and sudden contrast of his other cerulean iris clashing against its effects as though it was there for that exact purpose.

"Now let us take our seats," Phantom said quietly, breaking Evan from his reverie and ushering him towards the chair nearest Mercedes before taking his own seat next to him. "So, shall we begin?

Mercedes nodded and announced in a voice full of authority that echoed around the room, "I hereby call this meeting to order."

A slight shuffle of acknowledgement passed through the room and Evan, who was sitting ramrod straight in his chair, nodded anxiously.

Mercedes cleared her throat. "Now, that everyone is present, the first order of business is…" Her eyes automatically swept across the room as she spoke as was her wont and habit to assess each individual, alighting upon each of its occupants.

But as she registered the people who sat before her, her sentence tapered off and she found herself suddenly helpless to continue, her tongue tied into silence as she stared.

Aran was looking at her politely, so unlike the assertive woman who jumped in to add her own two cents every opportunity she could. Luminous was sitting dejectedly in his seat, head down almost as though ashamed and so unlike the man who could stare almost anything down with cool indifference. Phantom sat to Evan's right, feet up on the table and chair tilted precariously backwards while examining his nails in an idling fashion, just as he did in times past, but his air of bored mischief was gone and his eyes were sharp and attentive, once in a while directing his unrelenting gaze towards Luminous sat across from him and who did nothing to cease it, something almost unheard of.

And finally… young Evan… Freud's successor… His pose, his eyes, his speech, the air about him… By the spirits he was so… so young and… innocent... He was just a boy. A mere little boy. He reminded her of a new sprout that knew nothing but the warm hands of sunshine and the gentle caress of rain. She needn't even speak to him to know that this child was radically different from the hardened and devastatingly intelligent Dragon Master of centuries past who bore no illusions but all the disenchantments about the indifference by which the world turned.

Change… Everything has changed. Every_one_ has changed. Their whole group dynamic has changed. How could they all have changed so fast? The people who sat before her eyes now were no longer the same as the people who sat before her only a few hundred years ago. Nay, not even for all those years were but mere seconds as they slumbered within their curse. Gone were the comrades she knew bickering over war tactics and agreeing on truces that goes broken only a mere few minutes later. Instead, she finds herself standing before a group of virtual strangers and she is at a loss for words.

But it felt like just yesterday that she was bearing witness to one of the most chaotic scenes of havoc no one would have thought the composed Heroes would be capable of so what changed? Why? It was all so sudden, so sudd—

She looked over at Evan again and it came to her suddenly and sickeningly.

Humans. They were humans. Their lifespans were tragically short, as ephemeral as leaves scattered to the wind, the course of their lives as ever-changing as the skies. They're not as the elves who could outlast even empires in age, time nothing but a languid ride on a slow-moving river and living until the storm of fate was but little more than a drop on a still pool of water which may ripple but does not disturb the contents beneath.

But humans with their lives as fleeting as dreams are constantly battered this way and that, fate nothing but a cruel teacher until they come out wearied and different.

Fate and time was what had sealed Freud forevermore within the iron gates of the Netherlands and it was fate and time who had been the cruel mistresses that had twisted these tired souls this way and that until they presented their warped forms as she sees before her now and she does not know what to say.

"Is…"

"If I may," Phantom piped up suddenly. "I think our first order of business should be—" He directed piercing violet orbs towards Luminous. "—to hear out your story first, beginning to end, about how you've acquired that _fashionably _red eye. Don't think I haven't heard about your rampages around Maple World, Luminous."

Luminous slowly looked up to meet Phantom's gaze and Mercedes held her breath, anticipating a fight to break out but instead of the expected look of defiance and irritation, his eyes only bore resignation as they stared back and Mercedes felt another bit of her world crumble apart.

"Very well…" Luminous quietly agreed. "I believe that… it is only right that all who are present learns of this… the truth…"

Phantom nodded in satisfaction. "Then by all means, start."

"I shall begin by telling my tale of my confrontation with the Black Mage." He paused to gather his thoughts then continued. "Freud had successfully established the foundation for the seal but has become too incapacitated to complete it, leaving me to activate it. It was successful but the Black Mage struggles still and his power was on the verge of breaking the seal so I, with the last of my own power, forced a direct assault on him to prevent him from escaping. I knew little more afterwards.

"When I was next awake, I was found by a young girl in the middle of the forests of Ellinia and I have learned that many years have passed since our war with the Black Mage so in thinking that peace has reigned over the lands, I chose to live with her as her guardian and all was well for several years until I…" Luminous faltered, a look of pain flashing across his face. "I was unaware that in my foolish actions of a direct contact, the Black Mage lodged some of his power within me and that day I… I devastated our home and Lania she… she was barely alive…"

He choked slightly at the words but he quickly pressed on, to stomp out the memory so that he may finish the story which is more important right now.

"… I left in order so that I may reign in and master this curse the Black Mage has wrought upon me and so that I may never allow such tragedy upon anyone ever again. Vieren spoke of the Auguries which would aid me in controlling these dark powers and I immediately set about collecting them." He hesitated and stopped, a look of uncertainty crossed his features.

"Yes?" Phantom urged.

"I… am sure the news that I am about to bring will be unpleasant and I fully understand if you wish to severe relations with me…" Luminous replied, strange heterochromatic eyes darting from one person to another.

"No," Mercedes said firmly, almost desperately. "We will not. Let us hear what you have to say."

Change… No more change.

Aran smiled and nodded her encouragement and Evan, unsure of what to do but detecting the man's obvious distress, gave him as reassuring a smile as possible.

"Very well… I shall tell of it to you… Upon successful retrieval of the seventh legendary Augury, the spirit of the second Light Master of Aurora appeared before me and revealed to me of the Black Mage's origins. He was in reality the Transcendent of Light."

A surprised gasp escaped Mercedes and even Phantom was caught off guard, staring at him with eyes wide with surprise. His chair righted and his full attention immediately focused.

What a Transcendent of Light was Evan didn't know but it sounded really important to get this kind of reaction from even Phantom. A quick glance towards the tall woman sitting across from him showed him that at least he wasn't the only one who was confused, much to his slight relief.

"Um… excuse me for asking but… what _is_ a Transcendent of Light?" Aran asked, raising a hand as though in a classroom.

"We'll explain it in more detail later but just know for now that the Transcendent of Light is one of the pillars that support this world and all life that live on it," Phantom explained hurriedly before turning back to Luminous. "Continue."

"Yes, he was once the very pinnacle of hope that all who followed looked up to but as his crusade for light wound onward, he shut himself away from the world in Aurora as a way of searching for a more effective method of protecting and bequeathing the light of the world. However, when he next emerged, he had turned into a creature of a most twisted and foul nature who has cast his lighter side and his humanity away to forever enshroud himself within darkness and thus, the Black Mage was born…" Luminous paused and took in a breath before continuing slowly and carefully, "It was said, however, that his light shall be reborn onto the earth reminiscent of a star that will shine like no other before. And that star that finally graced the world at last was reborn… as me."

Absolute silence reigned following the revelation.

"So… you're saying…" Mercedes hesitated but Luminous caught the meaning nonetheless.

"Yes… In essence, I was originally a part of the Black Mage," he affirmed.

Phantom whistled and sat back in his chair. "And all those times you had the audacity to mark me as the villain for being what I am." He laughed wryly but it rang hollow, wringed of all triumphant satisfaction and mockery it could have held by the hands of time and a bone-deep emptiness within that it simply didn't matter anymore until all that was left was something weary and heavy.

"I… am apologetic for my past behavior and actions…" Luminous uttered, looking sincere in his contrition. "But regardless, it does not suggest that I approve of your own actions any more than I did in the past, simply that I… should not have persecuted you to the extent that I had."

Phantom shrugged. "And I certainly don't approve of you any more than I had before. Or disapprove for that matter."

Luminous nodded at the unspoken truce between them before he turned towards his remaining three compatriots who had remained silent throughout.

Upon eye contact, Mercedes shifted slightly before straightening again.

No. This weakness was not allowed of her. She was a queen and she must act like one so she will know her priorities and make the inquiry regardless of anyone's feelings.

"How well can you control these dark powers?" she demanded, frowning.

"Upon uniting all Auguries, I have managed to master these powers and control them at will however I… fear for my sanity nonetheless… Although no further incidents have occurred since… I cannot guarantee that future mishaps will not happen…"

The atmosphere grew decidedly heavier at that.

"Well, I don't think I have a problem with it," Aran said, smiling. "You don't look too bad I mean if you're troubled enough to be worried about hurting other people, then you can't be that bad right?"

Luminous gave her a faint smile, full of the wholehearted relief and thankfulness of a man who thought he would never be forgiven for the sin he had become. "Thank you, Aran." He turned to Evan. "And you, young Even? What are your sentiments on this?"

Evan started at being addressed directly. "M-me?"

Luminous smiled kindly, expression softening. "Of course. I cannot disregard your opinion on the basis of your age and especially since you are to be involved with us."

"O-oh. Thank you sir," Evan stammered, turning red. "I um agree with Ms. Aran. You… don't seem that bad." He offered a shy smile which was returned with a soft grateful look.

"Thank you."

"But before anything else, there's just one other thing I want to ask you about your curse, Luminous." Phantom gazed at the Light Mage with veiled, unreadable eyes.

"Yes?"

"Are you sure you're not using the Black Mage's dark magic as an excuse for your behavior?" Phantom asked lightly. "Answer honestly now."

The immediate reaction he garnered from that simple question was instantaneous. Luminous slammed a hand hard onto the table with a loud bang and surged to his feet, favoring Phantom with an acid look potent enough to melt iron and seething with outrage so tangible that one could nearly see it vibrating in livid waves from his body and it was all he could do to just barely keep it all in check, from outright hurting the thief who simply continued to watch him with infuriatingly cool eyes.

"How dare you even suggest such a thing of me?" he spat, voice strangled with the amount of fury trying to pack itself all at once into his words. "I would never hurt _anyone_ of my own volition, much less Lania! If it is not the Black Mage's accursed magic, then what could it possibly be?"

Phantom sighed almost pityingly which did nothing for Luminous's enraged state. "Ah, my good man. Even though you call yourself a mage, and a Light Mage at that, you don't even know that dark magic alone doesn't corrupt a person?"

"And what makes you so certain of your conclusion?"

Phantom rolled his eyes. "Do I really need to spell it out for you? Your bet, _which I had undisputedly won with flying colors,_ by the you had taken the time to actually study under Freud even for a few days as I did, you would've known that."

"Then how do you explain my sudden ability to wield dark magic if not because of the accursed Black Mage?" Luminous demanded. "And to suddenly have this… this _affliction_ of changing personalities… It cannot be mere coincidence!"

Phantom stared at Luminous darkly, tone deceptively light and almost sing-song as he said, "Well then, I suggest you look for an alternative explanation because I do not doubt Freud's teachings."

"I concede that Freud is a man of much knowledge and wisdom however, I would and could never inflict such… such devastation on Lania of my own accord. I would never wish it of her. Never."

"My dear Luminous," Phantom said, voice patronizing as though speaking to a child. "In case you haven't realized it yet, you are indeed not above us mortals which would make you a human which would make you imperfect which, in turn, means you are _flawed_. The dark magic most likely brought out your latent, more malicious and… ugly personality to the surface that you were hiding."

"Wait a minute!" Mercedes commanded in a bid to control the situation before it got out of hand. "Both of you! Enough! We will figure this out but slowly and calmly!"

She cast a quick glance towards Evan and the both of them instantly quelled.

He was pale and stiff in fright and he looked almost like a trapped hare, all wide eyes and fearful of the brewing explosion of a fight happening right before him.

When both men continued to keep their silence, Mercedes let out a breath and continued but not without the agitation sitting in her chest that _they should know better than this_. "Now that we have our heads back on our necks," she said somewhat scathingly, directing glares at the guilty parties, "Let's continue. Freud has apparently said that magic doesn't affect the personality while Luminous has clearly shown just that."

"Well," Aran began slowly, a finger tapping her chin as she thought. "It _could _be as Phantom had said, that the dark magic brought out Luminous's bad side but… well if he and the Black Mage are technically the same person and the Black Mage transferred some of his dark magic into Luminous maybe he, I dunno, transferred a bit of his own personality into him?" She shrugged. "That's all I can come up with anyway."

"No, it's a good idea. We won't know for sure and I don't know if we can but I don't think it's important right now anyway," Mercedes said firmly.

"It is because if it's Luminous's own personality, then I think we should be very worried about our backs," Phantom protested, shooting a suspicious look at Luminous who simply kept silent with his eyes directed downward once more.

But Mercedes shook her head. "Whether it's Luminous or the Black Mage, he will act all the same so it won't matter in the end. Besides, he said he has it under control even if he is fearful so I think we should move on to more pressing issues. Luminous?" she inquired in a gentler voice. Luminous looked up calmly at the call of his name. "If you are the Black Mage's light… does that make you the Transcendent of Light?"

"I cannot be certain," Luminous began slowly. "However, such a feat would require that one is a Transcendent as a person and not by the powers they wield. Since Rhinne retains her title as a Transcendent despite the theft of her powers, I assume that it is the person themselves that matters and not the powers. Furthermore, the Black Mage is still the Transcendent of Light despite conferring all his light powers onto me. With those as our foundations of logic and, as much as it pains me to say it, since I am essentially half of the Black Mage, it could be possible that I too am half Transcendent of Light."

"Okay… um… sorry but how is this relevant to anything?" Aran asked, scratching her head in puzzlement.

"It's relevant because being even half Transcendent implies that you have potentially immense power and the powers of a Transcendent is exactly what we need against the Black Mage. Rhinne, the Transcendent of Time had her powers stolen so she cannot fight. Alice, the Transcendent of Life… well I believe Mercedes would know more about that than me," Phantom said, looking over at the elven queen.

"Yes," Mercedes affirmed. "Originally, the Transcendent of Life was contained within the elves' most treasured artifact, the Mistelteinn where she was kept safe. We brought her with us to Minar in response to our plea for help so that she may fight by our sides. However, she was weakened by the battle against the Black Mage and retreated back into the Misetelteinn which Athena fled with to Victoria Island. Athena reports to me that at some point, the Misetelteinn had disappeared from her possession and we feared its theft however, it appears that the Transcendent of Life had simply transferred herself deep within Sleepywood to recover. Unfortunately, it seems one of the Black Mage's new Commanders had found her location and sealed her in her retreat.

"Of course, when I heard of the news, I immediately went to the Root Abyss to investigate and to set her free. The Transcendent of Life is a being we elves hold in very high regard, after all." Mercedes's hands fisted in frustration and her tone took on a slightly bitter quality, teeth clenched as though the following words were forced from her against her will. "However, the… Seal Guardians were… much too… strong for me alone and I… I was easily defeated.

"With the aid of others, I was able to defeat Vellum but another urgent matter requiring my attention had arisen and I had no choice but to entrust the task of freeing the Transcendent of Life to the other warriors of Maple World. Even as we speak, the various people of Maple are banding together their strength to defeat the Guardians and free the Transcendent of Life."

"I hope they free her soon," Aran said concernedly.

Mercedes's hands tightened on her lap. "I pray so as well," she whispered, pain in her eyes.

"Where is she going to go afterwards?" Phantom inquired, intervening before she could sink in her guilt and worry.

It worked and Mercedes redirected her focus to the conversation at hand. "Neinheart proposes she stay in Ereve. I too think it would be safer for her there."

"That's good. At least one more thing is taken out of our hands," Phantom hummed, twirling his cane between deft fingers.

"But I fear I have one final piece of news that is most dreadful but that must be delivered nonetheless," Luminous announced, expression turning more and more bleak with every word.

"Yes?" Mercedes prompted.

"The Black Mage… He has arisen once more. He had… appeared before me… in the flesh."

A dead hush fell over the room as all its occupants looked towards Luminous in varying degrees of disbelief and horror.

"S-so soon already?" Mercedes breathed, looking faint. If she had been standing, there's no doubt that she would have collapsed on the spot. "I had thought… I had thought that we'd have at least a few more months…"

"We're not prepared… are we?" Aran murmured, looking down at her hands with something akin to urgent frustration.

"No, we're not," Phantom confirmed, looking slightly distressed but mostly grim. "We are nowhere near the level we were before and we have a member within our ranks who is simply not ready period."

"Then it's a good thing the Black Mage is nowhere near the level he was before either," Luminous stated firmly. "Although he is still very much powerful, the time he has spent sealed has nevertheless weakened him. I could sense it… I believe he only appeared before me as a warning."

"How kind of him," Phantom commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes upwards. "And I suppose he'll stop if we asked him in turn."

"What would you say is the approximate level he is now?" Mercedes asked, leaning forward.

Luminous paused to consider the question. "If I must gauge him, I would appraise him to be mayhap 210, a fair bit weaker than he has been previously when we last did battle."

"But he's still way over our heads," Mercedes uttered thoughtfully.

"That it may be but I garner that it would take at least several months before he could restore himself to his former glory," Luminous added.

"But we'll still have much to catch up on. As we grow stronger, so too does he," Mercedes countered, frowning.

"Then I guess we're going to have to train even harder until we catch up," Aran huffed, looking fiercely determined, a glimmer of her past self arising in the fire of her expression and it felt reassuring to know that at least this part of her will never change.

"I suppose we have no other choice," Phantom sighed.

Mercedes and Luminous instantly shot him twin acerbic looks.

"I think the only one whom we should most worry after is this indolent slouch sitting before us right now," Luminous said dryly. "But nonetheless, a few months is still too brief a time."

"Um I er… hope I'm not speaking out of place," Evan began timidly. He gulped when all eyes suddenly turned to him but he took a deep breath and pushed forth, the words rushing from his mouth before his courage could fail him. "I-I was just thinking that if the Black Mage put in a bit of dark magic in Mr. Luminous, maybe Mr. Luminous also put a bit of light magic in… him.. too...?" he finished, uncertainly.

A pause.

"That is… very plausible," Luminous said, blinking. "If the Black Mage and I were as one previously, our magic would in essence be one and the same, making contamination much easier than if we were two entirely different entities and thus, it is not too fantastic to think that I could have implanted a bit of my own light magic into him as well."

"I doubt the Black Mage would be skipping through fields of daisies but it might weaken him slightly or at the very least slow his progress," Phantom said contemplatively. He turned to Evan and ruffled his hair. "Very good thinking."

Evan absolutely beamed at the praise. "Thank you sir!"

"So that puts his recovery time back by at least a year," Mercedes said, nodding in satisfaction. "A year is much easier to work with than a mere few months."

"And much has changed. We'll need all the time we could get to reacquaint ourselves with the world," Phantom appended.

"From what I observe, there are already many powerful warriors in Maple World, much different than in the past when only a handful of individuals have reached the level we were. There are also many more potential allies. It is heartening to have our burden lessened," Luminous said with a faint smile.

"Yeah I don't know what it was like back then but I like it here. People are nice and Maple World is so beautiful. I'd hate to see some selfish bastards destroy it," Aran declared.

"Oh," Mercedes's eyes widened in realization of something else they've missed. "We've been focusing so much on Luminous's news that we haven't heard from the rest of you. How fares you, Aran? I understand that you… lost your memories."

Aran grinned widely. "It's going really well, I think. I can't really wield Maha yet but I think I will be able to soon. Waking up was a real jolt at first. I didn't know anything or anyone but Lilin helped me out a lot and she was always there for me so I owe her a lot too."

"Lilin?" Luminous asked curiously.

"Yeah Lilin. She's uh Neinheart's little sister," Aran filled in with a fond smile. "She's real fierce and stubborn but she's nice and I like her."

"Has anything else happened since your awakening?" Mercedes asked, smiling at Aran's enthusiastic narrative.

"Oh yeah! Someone has been going around making trouble. First there was that Nependeath incident in Orbis and then something else in Ludibrium and there's a bunch of other stuff too. But I took care of all of that already! Though it seems the Black Wings are after these things called Seal Stones for some reason."

Looks were exchanged over the table except Evan, who was turning so scarlet that people could easily mistake him for trying to turn into tomato.

"I-I'm so sorry, Ms. Aran!" he suddenly blurted out before he could stop himself. "I, well, me and Mir, we were the ones who made all that trouble for you 'cause we thought we were helping people grow food and stuff but we were tricked by Hiver who was really a Black Wing… I'm so sorry," he mumbled with a downward cast of his eyes.

Aran simply laughed. "So that was you? Wow what a coincidence!" She shook her head, looking amused by the shamed tension in the boy's hunched shoulders. "Hey it's all good. You made an honest mistake but I took care of it, no one was hurt, and everything turned out fine. No use beating yourself up about it now so cheer up!"

Evan perked up at that and Phantom could practically see the stars growing in his eyes as he looked back at Aran with a relieved beam only a child who had been let off the hook could do.

"Don't spoil him too much, Aran," Phantom drawled and he smirked at the pout directed at him. "We can't afford a lot of mistakes."

"Still though," Aran argued eloquently. "It's all good. What more could you want?" she asked, sounding honestly confused.

Phantom sighed.

He supposed even amnesia wasn't enough to take away Aran's simple logic either. She was far from stupid though. She just tended to approach things in a clean and uncomplicated way which gave a nice perspective on things sometimes.

"So why are they after the Seal Stones?" Mercedes asked to put them back on track.

"I may know why," Phantom answered darkly. "The Seal Stones hold immense power and they'd need all the power they could get to not only revive the Black Mage, which they had done successfully already, but to also revive Lotus, Orchid's twin brother who was apparently put into a coma. It's why they've taken over Edelstein and their power supplies."

Mercedes eyes seemed to light in recognition before they narrowed. "I see…" she muttered. "I had fought with Orchid before and she did mention how the Black Mage would soon do something before she cut herself off."

"But it seems the Black Wings aren't only interested in the Seal Stones. They've been destroying old history books about us, the Heroes as they called us, and the war with the Black Mage. It's not a wonder why so few seem to have heard of us."

Mercedes thought back to her awakening, which seemed so long ago now, remembering her own confusion and how taken aback she was that no one seemed to know who she was or even where Elluel was anymore, not even the fairies.

"Why?" Aran asked, looking stumped but Phantom shook his head.

"I'm not certain myself. It's rather illogical. Even if they did it to bring down the morale of the people by making it seem like there were no precedents in those who could defeat the Black Mage and even if the world's population has forgotten us, ever since our revival, they've been remembering us again with the help of the Empress Cygnus and a few other key individuals, Lilin and Athena included. Additionally, there are a number of powerful fighters so it isn't as if destroying history would make much difference in the way they'll try to defend against the threat anyway.

"But just in case this isn't some kind of distraction, I have my informants working on figuring it out. If they find anything they'll contact me immediately. For now, I think it's prudent if we each continued our training. I'll be in charge of Evan but we need someone with magical expertise to teach him as well so I think it'd be best if Luminous comes in every once in a while to tutor him... under supervision of course."

Luminous dipped his head in agreement.

"Wow... You're... being surprisingly reliable," Mercedes said, blinking before hastily explaining at the dry look the thief had directed at her. "I mean, before, during the war, you never really participated unless we prompt you. You just usually sat there. It's a… _nice_ change," she murmured more to herself than to Phantom, looking deep in thought.

"Yes, I must agree that responsibility has shaped you well," Luminous agreed. He smiled kindly at Evan. "You are already contributing much to this group, young Evan. Take good care of this negligent man and I hope you may maintain this standard of excellence from now on."

Evan blushed at the praise, ducking his head and smiling shyly as Phantom started vehemently denying how he needed a child to look after him. "W-well I don't think Sir Phantom is neg… neg-li-gent. He's um… pretty cool." He snuck a quick smile at the man before continuing. "B-but thank you, sir! I'll do my best!"

"Oh Evan, you should know by now that that caliber of flattery gets you nowhere with me," Phantom sighed. "You need to be much better with your praise before you get anything from me."

"How about you're the best and most handsome thief in the whole wide world who could do anything?" Evan tried, looking hopeful for... something

Phantom returned the grin with a smirk. "That's more like it. But sorry, you won't be getting anything from me anyway. I never even told you _what_ you'd get out of it so you'll still have the same amount of studying and training to do!"

"That's not fair!" Evan complained, looking appropriately cheated.

"Lesson number one to learn by heart, Evan! Never trust anyone by just their word alone!" Phantom cackled.

"Hey! You still promised something though!" Aran defended, as she shot up from her seat.

"'Anything' can mean a number of things including nothing so your argument is null and void. Better luck next time!"

"You cheating—"

"I suggest you simply leave it as it is, Aran," Luminous sighed from beside her. "There is no reason with this thief and all attempts at swaying him is but a waste of breath better used elsewhere."

Aran looked displeased by Luminous's indifference towards the perceived injustice happening in front of her and she continued on.

And through all this, Mercedes smiled.

Her comrades may have changed in many different ways but in some respects, they remain the same. Maybe some changes weren't all that bad after all.

* * *

I might write a sequel to this one as well detailing stuff with the Adventurer questline and Beast Tamer and Eunwol when he comes out. For now, there's only five of them.


End file.
